Does Rey's Family Come from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace?

A large part of being a Star Wars fan in the modern age is having burning questions that won't be answered for a long time. The Force Awakens left us with a lot of those questions, but no doubt, the biggest of those questions is who exactly are Rey's parents? We know she is very strong with the force, and that seems to at least narrow it down a bit, but we may finally have an answer, or at least a big clue as to the lineage of Daisy Ridley's character.

A new report from Star Wars News Net, a fan site with a pretty solid reputation for breaking stories within the Star Wars universe, recently published a piece that gives clues to Rey's origins, and it semi-confirms a popular fan theory. Even though the site has a good track record, the chain of communication with this one is a bit muddy, so this is not meant to be taken as gospel. The information originates from Ian McCaig, a concept artist who worked on The Force Awakens who recently spoke at an art and industry conference in New Zealand. And he had a lot to say.

There are no direct quotes from McCaig from the conference, rather, the report is making use of a scoop from a fan who gave Star Wars News Net some details from the conference. Basically, McCaig worked on a draft of Star Wars Episode VII with George Lucas that was submitted to Disney, but ultimately rejected. In that draft, there were a lot of references to the prequels that would have had a big effect on The Force Awakens. Here is what the report had to say. Fair warning, there are potentially monstrous spoilers for future Star Wars movies ahead.

"The meat really came at his mention of Rey, and then her mysterious background. He spoke of how Qui-Gon and Shmi had a romantic affair in early-mid drafts of TPM, and how you can still see the remnants of this idea in the final film. He also teased that (paraphrasing) 'though none of these prequel-related concepts were able to be used outright, these ideas remain in the Lucas ecosystem, and filter through.' AND, though he spoke thus quietly, he almost certainly then said: "...And now we have a new Skywalker."

There is a lot to dig into in that statement. Firstly, Qui-Gon would have hooked up with Anakin's mom while they were on Tatooine in The Phantom Menace. That being the case, and if those "remnants" are actually still present in The Force Awakens, that would seem to imply that the affair produced a child. That child wouldn't have been Rey, because of math. But, that child could have had a child and that child could be Rey. That would indeed make Rey a Skywalker, which is huge and would explain a lot. The prevailing and popular theory is that Rey is the daughter of Luke, but that wouldn't really make a lot of sense and would be a bit too on the nose. This would be much more interesting and would be a bit more of a deep dive into the larger Star Wars lore.

J.J. Abrams made a statement a while back, which he somewhat retracted, saying that Rey's parents were not in The Force Awakens. If that is in fact the case, then what McCaig supposedly said would fit the bill. Disney being the way that it is, we aren't likely to know for sure until Episode VIII comes out next year, but this is definitely an interesting, new theory from someone with inside knowledge on the subject. Star Wars Episode VIII is set for release on December 15, 2017.